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Apr 152019
 

Such a great relief to finally got to the end of my PhD journey. 15th April 2019 a day to remember!

Many heartfelt thanks to Dr Lyn Robinson for her kind words and great role as my internal examiner. Also, many thanks to Prof Hamid Jahankhani for coming to City, University of London to be my external examiner. I certainly have learnt a lot from all the questions raised at the Viva.

I couldn’t have reached this final chapter in my PhD journey without the loyal and wonderful support from my supervisors, Prof Steph Wilson, Dr llir Gashir & Dr David Haynes. Many thanks!

Also, many thanks to Savita & Tillman (Chair) for making today a smooth day for us all.

Tweets and photos posted today by @lynrobinson & @stephwilsoncity. Many thanks!

 Posted by on April 15, 2019 at 7:14 pm
Mar 182019
 

My viva voce is now set for 15th April 2019. Many thanks to Dr Ilir Gashir for getting the panel sorted.

I already had a mock viva on the 8th March 2019, which I wasn’t well prepared for. Got other personal stuff to sort out which took too much of my time.

This week onwards I will refocus on my Thesis and start preparing for my viva! I will also need to do a 15 mins presentation. So…get cracking Cher!

Decided to map out my PhD journey – an odyssey!

Attached a large mindmap in pdf -

Cher’s PhD odyssey including major personal dramas

 Posted by on March 18, 2019 at 7:17 pm
Feb 252019
 

Finally…my thesis completed and submitted (20th February 2019) and it should soon be with the examiners.
Phew! Many thanks to my supervisors Prof Steph Wison and Dr Ilir Gashi, and also Dr David Haynes for their valuable support and help.
Also, Ms Savita Afonso for her speedy response and getting my thesis to the examiners.
Next stage the viva…

 Posted by on February 25, 2019 at 12:05 am

Songbird

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Aug 192018
 

Chilling & listening (& looping on YouTube) to Songbird by Eva Cassidy. Took a week away from PhD writing and was in south-western France most of last week on some sort of a ‘working holiday’. To my daughter – who is getting married next September – and also her sisters ‘To you, I would give the world…(Songbird).

Went to Goldsmiths library yesterday (Saturday) morning and somehow someone took my new (yes new!) MacBook Pro charger/power adaptor (& cable + plug)! That’s the bad news. The good news is that he/she didn’t take the laptop?! So, another day of no PhD writing as I had to go to an Apple Store to get a new charger. No wonder Apple has a record trillion $ under its brand. The charger is made in China. I’m adding a hefty (from a poor student) £88 (for plastics!) to Apple’s trillion. Listen up Apple!

Will need to kick-start my PhD writing.

 Posted by on August 19, 2018 at 12:31 am
Jul 112018
 

I presented my PhD topic at City’s PhD Symposium on 10th July 2018.
I need to change my ‘bad’ habits of last minute preparation (& no rehearsal!) especially as I do tend to produce far too many slides. I know I have to just ‘show less’ and ‘talk less’ but with impact. I did an awful job of presenting my PhD topic within 10 mins!
I also exported (pdf for presentation) an incorrect version of my pptx! I did the export just mins before I was due to present. A bad start!

Also, had problems with my MacBook Pro over the past few days. I have to switched-off or put into sleep-mode as my Mac is getting ‘overheated’ far too frequently.

A photo taken by my PhD colleague

 Posted by on July 11, 2018 at 4:42 pm
Jun 232018
 

‘Right to be forgotten’ got me googling me

Gosh! What an interesting find! My online footprints started way way back in 1997 (or earlier?)

In James Coplien’s ‘Architecture as Metaphor’:

http://skillsmatter.s3.amazonaws.com/M.+Devos+-+Architecture+as+Metaphor.pdf

ArchitectureAsMetaphor – info – Google Sites

https://sites.google.com/a/gertrudandcope.com/info/Home/ArchitectureAsMetaphor

In someone’s Bibliography:

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/140985/14/13%20bibliography.pdf

At 17th International Conference Information Visualisation:

http://www.graphicslink.co.uk/IV2013/iV2013_progV6.pdf

A special fengshui journey:

https://www.fengshuiseminars.com/aboutroger.html

ICDR Awards and Commentaries

https://books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=1933833874

AAA Handbook on International Arbitration Practice

https://books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=1933833491

Arbitration Advocacy in Changing Times

https://books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=9041133666

Electronic Discovery/Disclosure: From Litigation to … – JD Supra
documents.jdsupra.com/09bb0057-4f42-4080-8e0d-6bb0057e2be5.pdf

Recent Praise – eLessons Learned eLessons Learned – An ediscovery …
ellblog.com/e-lessons-learned/recent-praise/

November 2015 – Citylibresearchcasestudies

https://citylibresearchcasestudies.wordpress.com/2015/11/

Using game-like methods to elicit and rate … – the Conradiator
www.conradiator.com/resources/pdf/CardsortingPlus.pdf

and my websites and more?…

 Posted by on June 23, 2018 at 2:09 am
Jun 212018
 

My Thesis submission deadline is now shifted from the end of September 2018 to the end of March 2019. What a big sigh of relief?!

My current plan (or target) is to aim for submission by the end of this November, well before Xmas 2018. When I heard the news back in early February that I have to submit by the end of this September, I was still busy sorting out my final piece of study, so really need more time for writing. Now, I can focus on my writing knowing that I have ‘enough’ time to finish my Thesis.

Many thanks to the University’s Board and my supervisors, Prof. Steph Wilson, Dr. Ilir Gashi and Dr. David Haynes for all their support and help.

I just have to finish my Thesis!

 Posted by on June 21, 2018 at 6:50 pm
Jun 022018
 

The easy stuff of my Thesis is getting the outline of the chapters and the dates to complete each of the chapters.
Now the ‘hard’ stuff of writing up…

Today is a reflection day, reflecting on all the sweating & agonising moments with finding users, doing the interviews, designing-building of the dashboard, doing the user evaluation of the dashboard & dealing with WiFi/internet, online questionnaire, iPad, being Me and also being a researcher.

Well…also the many personal dramas since I started on this PhD journey.

Nothing is forever dramatic or agonising or ‘real’, right? This is as real as can be – a beautiful piece of music & singing – to remind me that fairy tales can be ‘real’ stuff. Well… ‘real’ for me & for less than 5 mins for that Royal walk :-) . A divine music in a memorable scene – simply, truly magical!

Can my Thesis capture all the dramas of the past years?
Mmm.. not really. It will have to be a meta-non-PhD Thesis or a personal diary of some sort.

During my supervisors’ meeting last Thursday, my 1st supervisor reminded me the essence of my research i.e. embedded in the aim/questions/objectives – all the ‘soft’ stuff which I now have to write about. She also said she is not an expert on my research topics, and another commented – Cher is the ‘expert’ now :-) . It’s not the ‘expert’ stuff that got me into reflective mood since the meeting. It’s when she said to write a story about my findings…

So, my invisible chapters in my Thesis have to be stories that any non-experts would want to read and be captivated like listening to a piece of divine or sublime music.

Just write Cher!

 Posted by on June 2, 2018 at 1:09 pm